As promised, I will have green beans at the New Market Farmer’s Market tomorrow afternoon! They’re crisp, stringless, and perfect for steaming, sautéing, freezing and canning. I’ll also have more of the beautiful grey zucchini as well as the last green onions.

In addition to picking beans, I harvested and hung the last of the garlic this week. Root vegetables are always fun, because you’re never quite sure what you’ll get until you dig it out of the ground – I always compare digging sweet potatoes to a treasure hunt, and harvesting garlic felt like unwrapping gifts. I’ll have garlic at the market in a few weeks, after it has had time to cure.

The tomatoes are beginning to plump, though they have a ways to go before they begin ripening. We’ll have to wait until the end of the month or so for those juicy tomato sandwiches, but it will be worth it! The sweet snack peppers, on the other hand, look ready to turn any day now.

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I went out to the garden this morning to take a few pictures for the blog and check some items off my to-do list, but when I peeked under the bush bean foliage to snap a photo, I found pencil-thick beans waiting to be picked! Although I only got a bowlful from this first harvest, there should be a couple pounds available at the farmer’s market next week.

I love planting bush beans, watching them sprout and grow into a lush jungle of foliage, and harvesting pounds and pounds of food from such a small amount of space. Yet the thrill of the first bean harvest has a tiny grey cloud hanging over it, saturated with the knowledge that I will be picking beans every-other day until October. I love growing beans, but come first frost, I will be more than ready to gleefully rip out the withered plants. In the meantime, it’s bean season, and I am so excited to chow down on some fresh beans this weekend!

Speaking of summer vegetables, the enormous zucchini plants also had a few surprises for me this morning. Again, I shoved my head into the foliage (yes, my head – these plants are huge!) to take a picture of ripening fruits and found beautiful, fat zucchini ready to harvest. I decided to try a different variety this year, an heirloom called Tender Grey, and it produces lovely speckled, grey-green squash.

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Yesterday, I harvested half of the garlic and hung it in an outbuilding to cure for a few weeks. When the tomatoes and peppers ripen, you can get some garlic, too, for your sauce and salsa making! It will also be delicious with the green beans. I might even bring some fresh heads to the market in the coming weeks.

If the rain abates early enough for us to hold the farmer’s market tomorrow, I will be there with green onions, zucchini, and maybe a few final radishes. Keep an eye on the New Market Farmer’s Market Facebook page for weather-related updates. Hope to see you soon!

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On Sunday we celebrated not only Father’s Day but also the beginning of summer, and I am so, so happy to be entering this wonderful, warm season. The garden continues to evolve as well. I finished pulling out the dried-up pea plants this week, and the lettuce has turned bitter and begun bolting in the heat. As predicted, though, the green onions are still going strong, and a few radishes remain to be harvested.

The zucchini patch is a sight to behold, with a waist-high jungle of foliage sheltering growing fruits that you should be seeing at market in another week or two. The spindly pepper plants just across the path pale in comparison, but they, too, hold ripening fruits. Although the tomatoes got off to a late start, they also show promise, and the wild, tangled bush beans are covered in tiny pink blossoms.

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Warm, sunny weather is forecasted for tomorrow, perfect for the New Market Farmer’s Market! And since it’s the last Friday of the month, there will also be a plant swap at the market. Everyone is welcome to bring healthy plants and gently used gardening tools, gardening books, and planters (no plastic nursery pots, please!) to leave on the plant swap table in exchange for an equal number of items. It should be a fun time!